Apple Pay- The New NFC Payment Feature for iPhone

With the launch of the latest iPhone 6, Apple has introduced new features which will make the user experience even better than before. One of the features includes the much awaited mobile wallet system–Apple Pay. With this new feature Apple has made its foray into the mobile commerce scene in a big way. Owners of this new version of iPhone will be able to make their payments with a single touch and without worrying about security issues. Apple Pay will be available to the US users in October. Let us have a look at some of the features of this NFC payment system.

With Touch ID, you can now make your payments in a single touch. You don’t have to open an app or even turn on the display to make the payment. This is possible due to NFC technology which will let you pay just by holding your iPhone near the contactless reader, with your finger on the Touch ID. To know whether your payment was successfully done or not, you don’t even have to look at the screen, a slight vibration and a beep will let you know about it.

By placing your finger on the Touch ID, you can also check out with a single touch.

Easy to Setup

You can easily setup your credit and debit card details with Apple’s Passbook app. It already stores coupons, boarding passes, tickets and more. Now the card details can also be added from your iTunes account to Passbook. All you need to do is enter the card security code.

If you want to add a new card on your Apple phone, you can use the iSight camera which will capture the card details in an instant. Otherwise, you can also add them manually. When you add the card details one by one, the first card will be automatically the default one which will be used to make your payments. If you want to change it and want another card to be used, you can go to Passbook or change from Settings.

Payment Security

Security issues are taken care of with Apple Pay. When you add the card details, actual debit or credit card numbers are not used. Instead a unique Device Account Number is allotted, encrypted and stored securely in the Secure Element, which is a dedicated chip in iPhone. Apple servers do not store these numbers. During a purchase, a transaction-specific dynamic security code is used along with the Device Account Number for processing your payment. So, when you are making your payment, your original debit or credit card numbers are not shared with the merchants.

Private Purchases

Transactions are private with Apple Pay. Your transaction data won’t be stored by Apple, which means they can’t be associated with you. Passbook will contain only the details of your most recent purchases and that too for your convenience.

Since your private details are not revealed to the cashier during your payment in a store, your data will be safe with you.

Apple Pay will work with American Express, MasterCard and Visa along with other top US banks. With the launch of iPhone 6 and Apple Pay, mobile commerce is bound to see a surge in the coming years.

Is Apple Pay better than Google Wallet?

Now that the features of Apple Pay are finally known to us, we can find out whether this mobile payment system will be better than that of Google.

The overall purpose and the technology used is the same for both these payment systems. However, when it comes to user experience and security, Apple Pay is better than Google Wallet. With Apple Pay, you will get a one touch checkout, you won’t have to enter your card details, you don’t have to type in your address and the best thing is that your card information won’t be shared with any merchant. All these features make Apple Pay a much better mobile payment system than Google Wallet.

However, it is too early to ascertain anything. We can have the final verdict only after Apple Pay is used extensively by the users after its release.

What do you think?

Do you think Apple Pay will make mobile payments easier? Are you going to order the new version of iPhone? Share your insights in the comments below.